Buried treasure

Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. — Psalm 119:18     

Growing up in rural Missouri where American outlaw Jesse James (1847‑1882) had lived, my friends and I were convinced he had buried treasure nearby. We wandered the woods in dreamy hopes of digging up a saddlebag or other treasure. Often we’d run into an elderly man chopping firewood with a giant axe. For years, we watched this mysterious “axe man” trudge the highways in search of soda cans, his own kind of treasure. Redeeming the cans for cash, he’d retire to his run-down, roofless, unpainted shack with a bottle in a brown paper bag. After his death, his family found bundles of money stored in his ramshackle home.

Like the axe man who ignored his treasure, we Christians sometimes ignore parts of Scripture. We forget that all of Scripture is ours to use; that each passage has a reason for its inclusion in the canon. Who knew Leviticus held so much buried treasure? In an efficient seven verses in chapter 19, God teaches us how to provide for the poor and disabled without stripping them of their dignity (vv.9-10,14), how to run our businesses ethically (vv.11,13,15), and how to embed respect for Him into our daily life (v.12).

If a few verses can contain so much treasure, think of all that can be ours if we dig into our Bibles every day. — Randy Kilgore

For Further Study

Mine the treasure in Leviticus 19, and then search

for more treasure in other parts of Leviticus to put into practice in your Christian walk.

READ: Leviticus 19:9-15

Every word in the Bible was placed with a purpose; any part you’ve not read is your buried treasure.

The Bible in one year:

• Leviticus 19-20; Matthew 27:51-66